Amit Shah set to battle on Mamata Banerjee’s home turf

New Delhi: The BJP is all set to take the National Register of Citizen (NRC) battle to the home turf of Trinamul supremo, Mamata Banerjee. After charging the Trinamul chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Ms Banerjee of playing votebank politics over the NRC issue after she warned that it could lead to “blood bath” and “civil war,” Mr Shah will address his party’s youth wing rally in Kolkata on August 11, for which the permission was finally granted by the state authorities.

The BJP president is likely to “expose” how Ms Banerjee is trying to play appeasement politics over an issue, which would weed out illegal migrants from Assam, who are using resources meant for Indians and could also pose a security threat to the country. Mr Shah, in his speech in Parliament on Tuesday had said that the NRC was the essence of the Illegal migrants in border states is a major political issue for both the regional and national parties.

Mr Shah was in West Bengal in June after two BJP workers were killed allegedly by Trinamul supporters. The Supreme Court monitored NRC exercise in Assam has left out more than 40 lakh people from the final draft and war of words had ensued after the BJP claimed that a similar exercise would be implemented in West Bengal also.

West Bengal is one of the few states where the BJP’s organisational strength is yet to pace up. While the BJP had been accusing the Trinamul of resorting to blatant appeasement politics, the later accuses the saffron party of trying to divide people on religious ground.

Meanwhile, Union minister Arun Jaitley said that country’s sovereignty is “not a play thing” and that “sovereignty and citizenship are the soul of India, imported vote banks are not.”

No automatic removal of Assam voters
With 40 lakh people failing to get their names on the draft National Register for Citizens in Assam, the poll panel on Wednesday said an exclusion from this list would not automatically result in their removal from the electoral rolls as registration of voters is decided by the election laws.

Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat said people excluded from the NRC would not be automatically removed from the electoral rolls of Assam as registration as a voter governed by 3 criteria as under the Representation of the People Act, 1950. The CEC said the chief electoral officer of Assam will give a report soon.

Mamata links NRC draft to Bangla ties
The Trinamul Congress on Wednesday continued its rant over Assam’s draft National Register of Citizens inside and outside Parliament, with party chief Mamata Banerjee alleging the draft NRC’s publication “will destroy” India’s relationship with neighbouring Bangladesh.

Both Houses of Parliament saw uproarious scenes on Wednesday over the NRC issue. Protests by Trinamul members yet again forced the adjournment of the Rajya Sabha for the day, as it failed to complete a discussion on Assam’s NRC and the and the reply to it by home minister Rajnath Singh.

The Bangladesh government has made it clear that the entire NRC issue is an “internal matter” of India, giving a clear signal that there is no question of any deportation of these people to Bangladesh in future.

Its information minister Hasanul Haq Inu told TV channels the illegal immigration issue “had nothing to do with Bangladesh”.] In the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Sushmita Dev created a scene as she entered the Well of the House claiming that some “Bengalis were beaten up along the Assam-Meghalaya border after the draft NRC was published” and sought their safety.

The Trinamul members demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi come to the House and give members an assurance in this regard. Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Anand Sharma raised a point of order and insisted on the removal of BJP president Amit Shah’s comments on NRC controversy on Tuesday.

Mr Sharma said that Mr Shah, during his speech on the NRC debate, had termed all Prime Ministers in office after the late Rajiv Gandhi as “buzdil” (cowards).
The Congress later decided to call a full CWC meeting to evolve a proper response on the draft NRC. It will be held on August 4 in New Delhi.